Founders Message - 3rd December 2017

BANK VICTIMS APPLAUD THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A ROYAL COMMISSISION INTO THE BANKING SECTOR BUT PUSH FOR STRONG TERMS OF REFERENCE

1st December 2017

Tens of thousands of followers through the bank victim advocacy group Bank Victims Pty Ltd are today applauding the announcement of a Royal Commission into the banking sector, something they have been pushing for now for over 8 years. But they want to send a clear message to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that the terms of reference need to be strong and the judicial panel appointed completely unbias to deliver the best outcome for the Australian people. There also needs to be compensation for bank victims who’ve had their livelihoods destroyed at the hands of the banks.

“It is crucial that bank victims across the country are compensated for the wrong doings of the banks as a result of this Royal Commission. The trouble we have had through consecutive Labor and Liberal Federal Governments over the past 10 years while these problems have manifested, is that they’ve allowed the banks to have a say in all manner of things, including the structure, constitution and complaint processing systems of their own institutions. The reason we are in the situation we are in today is thanks to political leaders allowing the banks to play God with people’s lives. So they only have themselves to blame for having to call a Royal Commission,” said Bank Victims Founder Russell Cousins.

At no point have the Australian people had a truly “independent” body working on behalf of them. It is the responsibility of the Government to make sure that this Royal Commission delivers true independence and the process is allowed to take its course without the banks breathing down their necks.

“We are hopeful that the Royal Commission will showcase the systemic problems within the banking sector and the fact that it needs addressing legislatively. We need to see elements of the Banking Code become law as a result of this. It is the only way to protect consumers once and for all. It is clear that we cannot trust the banks to be completely unregulated and allow them to continue to operate under a voluntary code of practice. For appropriate, fair and ethical banking practices to be voluntary is completely unacceptable,” said Mr Cousins.

“This is an industry where abuse of power sits at the very core of its culture and the Australian people need to be given some power back so their rights are also considered.”

The Bank Victims Founder also encouraged the Royal Commission to remove ASIC, the Financial Ombudsman and the Code Compliance Monitoring Committee (CCMC) from the Royal Commission process claiming that not one of the bodies has acted in an independent manner in relation to the banks for the past 10 years.

“These ‘so called watchdogs’ have done nothing but navel gaze for the past 10 years and ignore the estimated 2.5 million banking customer complaints. Their inaction has shown their utter disdain for what is meant to be a fair and just system. The very reason ASIC and the CCMC exist is to act as the corporate watchdogs, but they have sat idly by and allowed the banking malpractice to perpetuate.”

Bank Victims are also monitoring the APRA Bail-in Bill now referred for Parliamentary scrutiny. If the Australian people can defeat this bill, it doesn’t just protect Australians from bail-in, it will start to derail the global bail-in agenda, which APRA’s superiors in the Bank of England, the BIS, the FSB and the TBTF banks have pushed since 2008 to preserve the existing banking practices, so they wouldn’t be subject to a Glass-Steagall banking separation that would force them to stop gambling with deposits.

For media interviews or further information contact: Bank Victims Founder - Russell Cousins – via mobile: 0487 901 054 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.(Financial Forensic experts and individual banking victims can be contacted for media comment upon request. Many bank victims are willing to speak to media about their personal stories of ill-treatment. https://bankinginaustraliatoday.com/